It is possible that the American probe that landed on the moon landed on its side

This was announced by the private American company that owns this probe, on Friday evening, 24 hours after the device landed on the moon, which was the first in more than 50 years.

It did not reach the moon vertically as planned. It is possible that the probe belonging to the American company Intuitive Machines found itself lying down while landing on the surface of the moon, this private company announced on Friday, February 23. However, the latter specified that scientific data and images could still be recovered.

The device specifically transports scientific instruments from NASA, which wants to explore the south pole of the moon before sending its astronauts there, as part of the Artemis missions. He took off last week from Florida. After a landing that lasted about an hour, the moon was landed on Thursday at 5:23 pm Houston time (12:23 am Paris time), where the company’s control room is located. The Odysseus probe, which is more than 4 meters high, became the first American device to go to the moon in more than 50 years.

The probe “set its foot on the surface” of the Moon

But twists and turns, particularly the failure of the navigation system, complicated the final landing. “We are thinking” That Odysseus “She put her foot on the roof and the lander flipped over.” Steve Altemus, CEO and co-founder of Intuitive Machines, explained during a press conference. The company said Thursday evening that the plane had landed “standing”, But this assertion was based on incorrect data, and was corrected.

Using a model of the lander, Steve Altemus showed the device from one side, but the top of it was likely resting on it “a rock”And let it be partly “Starch”, According to the analyzes of this startup, which was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. He added that the lander is still producing energy thanks to its solar panels, and therefore can work, explaining that the NASA probe in lunar orbit should try to take pictures. “End of this week”Which could confirm Odysseus's exact location.

However, the probe was able to capture an image of the Moon's Schaumberger Crater about 200 kilometers from the planned landing site. This photo was posted overnight from Friday to Saturday on the social media site X.